Black-white higher education gap larger today than 50 years ago

In 1962, the year before the March on Washington, about half of all white people over 25 had completed high school but only a quarter of blacks had. Since then, that gap has been nearly erased, shrinking down to about 3 percentage points, but the gap in college completion rates has widened. And for most families, college is the ticket to a middle-class life, improving economic mobility for children and protecting families from financial distress.

Only 4 percent of blacks age 25 or older in 1962 had a college degree, while 10 percent of whites did. In 2012, 21 percent of blacks had a college degree and 31 percent of whites did, meaning the gap grew from 6 percentage points to 10 percentage points.

Differences in school quality add up over time

The quality of public education also differs by race because of our school financing system. Because of the black-white wealth gap, richer white families live in school districts with greater property tax revenue supporting higher education spending. Differences in early education opportunities add up over the school career and result in large achievement gaps. Taking family income and neighborhood characteristics into account greatly reduces the black-white achievement gap, suggesting that family income differences drive much of the achievement gap.

The persistent gap in higher education between blacks and whites—largely due to persistent wealth differences—leads to lower income, wealth, and health in future years and in the next generation. The gap in college completion is actually larger today than it was 50 years ago, and many of the policies used to close the gap are under fire, including admissions policies and financial aid.

We need new policies, and intervening at the end of high school may be too late: we need to address racial disparities that begin at early ages and may be driven by large differences in the quality of public education.

As an organization, the Urban Institute does not take positions on issues. Scholars are independent and empowered to share their evidence-based views and recommendations shaped by research.

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Such a good and true article. Most people don't graduate because of lack of financial or family support. This is true regardless of race. I personally attended an HBCU and it was better personally to have more people there to encourage and help me when I didn't have the support at home, even for the basics to eventually graduate.

Read my book, The Little Black Book of Child SexSlavery, to see the difference between racist blacks and integrated blacks. Racist blacks restrict education and contact with whites and are not like whites. They persecute integrated blacks who especially interracially date. The book includes a poetry book.